Do dogs grow out of eating poop

Much of a young puppy's poop eating ties to general oral exploration of the world, which naturally decreases as puppies mature and shift toward more established routines and less indiscriminate mouthing of everything encountered.

If the habit was reinforced through repeated opportunity or attention over months, or if it is driven by an ongoing source like boredom or a multi-dog household with shared outdoor space, it can persist well into adulthood without active management, regardless of general maturity.

Consistent cleanup, a solid leave it cue, and adequate mental and physical enrichment all speed up the process of the habit fading, whether in a young puppy still maturing or an adult dog that never fully grew out of it.

A habit that has been practiced and reinforced for years in an adult dog is generally slower to change than the same behavior in a young puppy still forming its habits for the first time, simply because there is more established repetition to work against. This does not mean an older dog cannot improve significantly with consistent management, only that progress may be more gradual, and owners of a long standing adult habit should expect weeks to months of steady, consistent effort rather than a quick turnaround, celebrating small, gradual improvements along the way rather than expecting the long standing habit to disappear entirely all at once without any setbacks whatsoever during the process. Keeping a simple weekly log of how often the behavior still happens is a genuinely useful, low effort way to confirm that gradual, real progress is actually being made even when day to day change feels too slow to notice on its own.